Montanaro Asset Management Ltd Sells 37,020 Shares of Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTG)

Key Points

• Montanaro Asset Management Ltd reduced its stake in Entegris, Inc. by 40%, selling 37,020 shares and holding 55,580 shares valued at approximately $4.86 million.
• Other institutional investors, including Principal Financial Group Inc. and Deutsche Bank AG, significantly increased their positions in Entegris, highlighting investor interest in the semiconductor company.
• Entegris announced a quarterly dividend of $0.10 per share, representing a yield of 0.6%, with the firm's payout ratio at 20.62% as of its latest disclosures.

Montanaro Asset Management Ltd lowered its stake in Entegris, Inc. (NASDAQ:ENTG - Free Report) by 40.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,580 shares of the semiconductor company's stock after selling 37,020 shares during the period. Entegris accounts for approximately 1.4% of Montanaro Asset Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Montanaro Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Entegris were worth $4,862,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in Entegris during the first quarter valued at $26,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its position in Entegris by 125.7% during the first quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 307 shares of the semiconductor company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Entegris during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in Entegris during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Curat Global LLC purchased a new position in Entegris during the first quarter valued at $39,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on ENTG. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of Entegris in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $103.00 price target (down previously from $112.00) on shares of Entegris in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their price target on Entegris from $90.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Wall Street Zen lowered Entegris from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Entegris from $95.00 to $90.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $106.44.

Entegris Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ENTG traded down $1.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $77.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,137,839 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,205,898. Entegris, Inc. has a 12-month low of $60.75 and a 12-month high of $119.95. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $82.08 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $85.11. The company has a current ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 1.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04. The stock has a market cap of $11.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.75 and a beta of 1.22.

Entegris (NASDAQ:ENTG - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The semiconductor company reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $792.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $753.85 million. Entegris had a return on equity of 12.05% and a net margin of 9.17%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 2.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Entegris, Inc. will post 3.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Entegris Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 20th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 30th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Entegris's payout ratio is 20.62%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Susan G. Rice sold 8,858 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.84, for a total transaction of $707,222.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 56,912 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,543,854.08. The trade was a 13.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Clinton M. Haris sold 3,627 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.00, for a total value of $326,430.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 37,743 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,396,870. This trade represents a 8.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 12,760 shares of company stock valued at $1,053,513. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Entegris

Entegris, Inc develops, manufactures, and supplies microcontamination control products, specialty chemicals, and advanced materials handling solutions in North America, Taiwan, China, South Korea, Japan, Europe, and Southeast Asia. It operates in three segments: Materials Solutions (MS); Microcontamination Control (MC); and Advanced Materials Handling (AMH).